Self-Rising Flour

by May
(Summersville, KY)

I know the difference between self-rising flour and plain or cake flour such as adding baking powder, soda and salt to the plain flour. But is there ever a time when it isn't ok to substitute self rising for the plain?

Thanks, May

Hey there May!

I have substituted self-rising flour for all-purpose flour in lots of recipes. The only thing I don't recommend is that you use it in a pie crust recipe. Don't get me wrong, you can, it just changes the look and texture of the crust. Your crust will be much thicker won't have the delicate texture of a pie crust made with all-purpose flour. Just remember that if you use it in a bread recipe, you need to omit the salt and in other recipes that call for baking powder and salt, you will need to omit both of those.

Some folks say that if you use self-rising flour in a recipe that doesn't have an acidic ingredient in it to activate the baking powder and neutralize it (like buttermilk, for instance), whatever it is that you are making may have a slightly bitter taste to it. Now, that may be the case or maybe my taste buds are getting old but I've never noticed it.